Car-loading system



July 21, 1925.

1.546.700 o. ALLEN ET AL CAR LOADING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 5, 1924 3Sheets-Sheet l July 21, I925.

O. ALLEN ET AL CA LOADING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 5, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2afar/3% 9% Jul 21, 1925. 1,546,700

0. ALLEN ET AL CAR LOADING SYSTEM I Filed Dec. 5, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet 5Z ihti; & i Q ii A: 1/ lIII/II/IIIlIlI/II! I fizaeizzarr:

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Patented July 21,1925.

emes.

. D sses oiic i-iiclteo,

one-LOADING sYsrnr/r.

Application filed flecenioer To all whom it-mmyconcern:i "Be it knownthat We,,OnnuN Aime vlD munJ. Oltoniuimcitizens of the United States ofl -America", residing, respectively, at

t-heicityj and county otDenyer and State of 1010mm and Chicago, countyof Cook, and

State of Illinois, have invented a DOW and useful Ger-Loading System, ofwhich the tollowing'is e specification.

Our invention relates to a car tein. 4 i1 i 4; it

And the objects of our invention are:. First. To provide a. system oftransferring empty cars ah'ezidiot the loaded cars on one railway trackin tunnels that are too niirrow to allow a switchto he put in witlr' outblasting fout a long chamber in the side "otltheitunnel for 1 theswitch, endwvithout removing the loaded ears troin the track, andWithout the employment of cei switch ing men. V

Second. To provide it system of transferring an empty rock muck carahead or :1 loaded can on onetreck, which consists of ruuninge traino'f'ienrpty cars into a tunnel until the car at thehead of the trein ofempty cars is under the muck loading machine, and then hile it is beingloaded, uncouplinglthe rear empty; car and moving it 1 short distancedown, the track, and lift ing it 0a of the track and moving it tarenough away from the track for the motor and the other cars in .thetrain cars to pass it,then movin'gtlie motor up to and coupling it-tothecars left in the trein, and backing them down past the cer oii' thetrack, and then placing the car that is off ofthe track hack onto thetruck ahead of the loaded car in the train;ehdthen pushing the train 01cars up to the loading machine until the en'iptycar is in positionto beloaded by it; and repeating-the operation until all of the cars arelilled with much; and then pulling theitrein oi? loaded cars out ot thetunnel and dumpingthe muck out of tl'ien'i and, then returning the trainof empty cars into the tunnel to the much load ing machine. i v Third.To provide quickly and cesily operated, and thoroughly practicalceoperating system of empty mucl-:-car moving, loadin' and inanipuletingmechanism for trensi, itiing empty cars sliced ot loaded 1 loading sys-N, en d illll) of Figure 3, and i i 1924. Serial No. 753359.

cerjs on one track Without theuse 0t alswitcli i track -so thet they canhe loadedin succes sive order until all of the empty cars in the train01 empty cars are filled with rock muck. l it i 1 i R'Veattain theseobjects by the m illustrated in the accompanying in whichz s it .iFigure 11, is a diagrammatic perspective VlGW of a portion of a tunnelbore and illustrating, the manner of Jreinoving theomuck tronrthe breastendiotthe; tunnel by means of the improved cert-handling system.

Figure it, is e transverse sectional NlBW through the tunnel bore,showingthepneumatically operatingimechanism tortrsnsferringithemuckrlmndlil'ig tears. from the track to one side thereof and then backtothe tracln o .i i. a .1; Figure 3, is t! sideyiei pot oneiot' the carsshowing the mechanism by which eitherbthe lotrdediorunloaded cars arelitted the pn'cu metically operated lifting cylinder being omitted. t 1.it i Figure 4L, is a front View ofonezotthe adjustable props forsupporting the cross bar upon which is mounted the trolley; whichsupports the pneumatically operated lifting cylinder. it y a i it Figure5, ise horizontal sectional View on theline 5+5 of Figure l a 1 Figure,6, is anenlarged vertical longitudinal ,sec-tionaliview through oneend.por-v tion of the trolley-supporting crossbar."

Figure 7, is e transverse sectional View on the line 7-7 of Figure 6. itFigure 8, is an enlarged vertical; s 'itionsl vieuythroughi one; of thetrolley Wheels end the support therefor Whiclrtorms a part of cdrawings,

iii. 1 .i hanism i v the uppenhead of the lifting cylinder.

Figure 9, is anendelevation oti thecasting that connects the lowerienda-o'l the pieton rod to the I-he'em that extendsecrossythe centralportion oi the length olieach empty car, When moving an empty car from,and

returning it to the truck.

l iggure 10, is a sectional iiew on the line Figure 11 is aplanuyrheejd', showing the trolley supporting hreckets thereon andthetrolley,Wheelsm i Similar lettersoit reference '1' r itosimiler partsthroughout the several \ieu's;

cu of a cylinder Referring to the drawings:

The numeral 1 designates a tunnel that is too narrow to lay either adouble track or a switch in, and consequently only one track 2, is laidin the center of it.

In the present application of our invention, it is applied to a tunnelof about eight feet square, and our invention is now in operative use inthe eight foot square preliminary, or scout tunnel, of the Moffat tunnelwhich is being driven through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in advanceof the main full size tunnel, which will be twenty-four feet high bysixteen feet wide.

The numeral 3 designates one of the railway tracks supporting cross tieswhich are laid on the floor of the tunnel to support the track 2, and inFigure 2 we illustrate in two' different positions one of the rock muckholding cars, that conveys the rock that is blasted out of the breast ofthe tunnel, which is called rock muck, out of the tunnel to the dump;but in Figure 1, four of these rock muck conveying cars are illustrated,and they are designated by the letters A, B, C and D, in order todescribe the transferring movements of the three cars, B, C and D, aswill be clearly described hereinafter, but the car shown in Figure 2 canbe any one of the three cars B, C or D shown in Figure l, andconsequently we have designated it B01), in Figure 2. (The car A is nottransferred.)

The letter M designates an electric motor which pushes the rock muckconveying cars into the tunnel and pulls them out of it.

The numeral 5 designates the floor of the tunnel; 6 and 7 the sidewalls, and 8 the roof of the tunnel. 8 designates the breast of thetunnel; 8 rock muck that has been blasted out of the breast of thetunnel; 8 the rock muck loading machine; 8 the shovel of the loadingmachine, and 8 the endless belt conveyor onwhich the shovel deposits itscontents and which discharges the rock muck into the heady car of atrain of empty cars and 8 the muck loader operator.

In Figure 2, we illustrate an empty muck conveying car BOD, on the track2, and above it a trolley supporting bar 9 is secured against theopposite sides 6 and 7 of the tunnel. Our invention contemplates,however, any form of a metal cross tunnel trolley-supporting bar. .Vepreferably, however, use a round cross bar, preferably a tubular bar,and use a double extra strong piece of steam pipe.

Our invention contemplates any way of securing the opposite ends of thetrolley supporting bar against the opposite side walls 6 and 7 of thetunnel. We preferably, however, provide the opposite ends of the tubularbar with a sleeve 11, which is secured by pins 10 t0 the tube 9 againstmovement, and the sleeve is provided with an interior thread, in which alarge-threaded short shaft 12 is threaded to turn easily. This shortshaft extends a short distance through the sleeve into the tube 9, andits outer end is provided with a large nut 13, which forms an integralpart of it; a short bearing 1a extends beyond the nut portion of thethreaded shaft, on which a twopointed for]; 15 is loosely enough mountedto adjust itself to uneven surfaces on the opposite side walls of thetunnel; then, by turning the short-threaded shaft to screw it out of thetube, 9, at either one or at both ends moves the forks against the sidewalls of the tunnel and the points of the fork press tightly against andslightly into the rock. By means of these extension forks at theopposite ends of the trolley-supporting bar, the bar is secured acrossthe tunnel against accidental displacement; and in addition to theforks, we can use, when desired, a pair of adjustable spreading props,the upper ends of the standards 16 being connected to the sides of thecross bar 9 by rings 17 that are formed on a clamping sleeve that isslidably mounted on the bar and is arranged to clamp the sleeve to thebar, and rings 20 that extend through the rings 17 and. are secured tothe upper ends of the standards 16.

Upon the cross bar 9 we mount a trolley 23, which consists of a pair ofsheaves 2a and a supporting frame 25. Each sheave wheel is secured to ashaft the opposite ends of which are rotatably mounted in the supportingframe. This supporting frame is illustrate-d as being made as anintegral part of a cylinder head 26, and it forms the upper cylinderhead of a cylinder 27, but it may be made in two or more pieces andsecured together if desired.

This trolley is arranged to run back and forth on top of the crossbar 9of the tunnel, and the cylinder 27 is secured to it, as well as thelower cylinder head 29 of the cylinder 27, by bolts 30 that extend downthrough the top cylinder head, and the cylinder and its lower cylinderhead and these bolts. 30 clamp the upper cylinder head 26 and thecylinder 27 and the lower cylinder head 29 together.

A piston 31 and a piston rod 32 are reciprocally mounted in the cylinder27, and the lower end of the piston rod is pivotally secured to acasting 33 by a pin 34, and the lower end of the casting is extend-edalong and made to surround an I-beam 35, and its opposite end portionsare secured to the I-beam by bolts. The casting 33 is illustrated asbeing made in two half parts, but it may be made in a one piece castingand be cored out to allow the I-beam to be e2;- tended through it, ifdesired.

The I-beam is made long enough to extend lit! aeross the length of eartpits eppositeehtls 33 and B ififzthd castings *36 are seeiited to eachend, and the outer 'endsf'ot the"easting are provided with a bolt 34that exten s through them at iight angles to the length of the'l h'eain35, tihchofn "theopposite ends of the bolts, \vef'h'iounttinthl'oivetally seuie to th opposite sides of the, castingthe upperentis of aipair of lo1ig" hooks 37, the 7 lower ends BT ottvhieh swing"under the edges 40,pf the aliglehars 38, that are'secured to the bottom39 oit" the body of the calgeiid hook to them, thehooks'being 'inaclelong enough to til lo'w their hodked' ends 37 to swing nnderthe lotveredges '01"- the opposite end of the top edgesoif the ca r, bind tohookup under the lo'weredges 40 of the angle hars 38 \vhen the l-beainis raised slightly above the "top of the ear by air pressnre'achnitted"to the cylinder, as will be presently described. 7 v

In order to admit eoinpressed air to "the bottom of the fcfylihtter andto admit it and exhaust it to operate the piston to raise and lower theears 3, and to 'holtl them in the-air until they Tare swnngfto one sideof the track out of the path of the passing motor and the other cars inthe train, We preferably use the following m rangeinent of an: conveyinghose and air inlet and exhaust valves and pipe fittings nectetito theelhow 4'2, and "aT 44 is con nected to the opposite end of the nipple43.

A nipple 45 is connected to the opposite end of the T M, and en elh'ovv46 is 'cohneeted to the opposite endof the nip le 45. A nipple 4:7 isconnected to the eltow 16, and a valve 1:8 is connected to the nipple Anipple 49 is Connected to the vaive, and one end of a hose 50 isConnected by coupling 49 to the nipple 49, 'the opposite end of whichextends to a supply of compressed air that flows from an air'conipressor, an'd is' piped through the tunnel to the Took drillingmachines. I I

The T 44L is also provided with 'a nipple 51, and a valve 52 iseoniiect'ed to the nipple 51, and a nipple 53 is connected to the valve52, and an elbow 54 is eonneeted to the nipple 53. Thevah'e 48 is theair inlet valve, and the valve 52 is the eidianst valve, and the airexhausts from the cylinder into the at inosphere froin the elbow 54.,

The upper cylinder head is rovided with asniall vent hole 55 tolet'th'eair that Works past the piston head escape to the. atmosphere instead(if ,cmnpressii'1 there above the piston. WVe illustrate a v'a1ve55connected to this vent hole in ordei that the size of the a erture theair escapes through We term 2th aperture through the lowereyli'nde'rhead and thread to it one "611d "of a nray he etljusteti *tothe "size "tiesitetlto avoitl to the 'npl ene ylinder head to ihfnish hbri W ofabout eight inches and a length 0 f 'tthoiit thirteen inches"and rise a piston head of abotit three inches in thickness, Whichgivesus a stroke 0 f ten inches, end eoiisequehtly the piston heathwhich is provided with the piston lifts each an; ten inches stave thetrack.

The Operation of otfr sytef11i0 ftrahsas they are leaded, one at athheona single traek, without the use of a switch traek, is

as fdl lowsz i p I The piston head 31, and the, piston rod are moved tipin theoy'linder 27 b'yeoi'n the, compressed of about one himthed L- ,1 1i pounds pressure, as our nine-k car weigh about twenty-three,hnndiedpoun s each,

an'dthi's pressure oi air hits the ga es *qtiich- 1y but notvioientlyhand it will hohl the cats in the air as long as desired.

Assuming, then, that a train of empty rock ninck conveying Chris ispushed 'intothe tunnel by the niotornien the the niotot,

endless inlu'ck conveying heit S of t'helottd- 111g ine'ohnie 8 "and theloading machine,

to shovel up ehd Convey and Ci'isehiige the roeh nineh into the'einptyear A, then While the; ear A is Being lditdec'l, the feat ein-ptycar I) is iineonpied' fl-cm the ear C, and is moved by the n' 'o'torinanE, down the tr'leh under the air httin'g '-ctppai'etirs AA, which ispositioned about hu'n'thed feet item the cal, Tending machine eelied themuch leader.

We only shovv four ei'i'ipty ears and an eieetrio motor In thetrain inthe tnhnel, and

they are marked A, B, 'C, D, and the e1ec'- AA; their the brehenia'n F,nnho'npies the empty ear D from the motor M, and the motor is backeddown the tree]: far enough fr m the ear D to ehoiv the h'rakeinan F tostep to the front end 0}, of the oer use he is instantly assisted hy themotornnin E, who

steps off of the niotor and Walks to the back end 0, of the can D. Thenhtithof them take hold of the opposite ends of the Ibeahi 35, at orabotit th top of the hooks and Troll the trolley and the eyliiioler, endthus swing ing the I-beam and the hooks over the top of the car to thecenter of the car D, and push the hooks 37*, under the lower edge 40 ofthe angled bar 38; then the motorman E, opens the air inlet valve 48,and the air pressure flowing into the cylinder raises the piston headand the piston and lifts the car and its wheels off of the track asshown in Figure 2. Then both brakeman F, and motorman E, pull and swingthe car towards and close to the side wall 6, of the tunnel, and and itstrolley, 23, runs on the cross bar 9, close to the side wall end of thecross bar. Then the motorman E, closes the air inlet valve; 48, andopens the exhaust valve 52, and allows the air to escape from thecylinder to the atmosphere from the elbow to allow the empty car to movedown quickly but not violently onto and rest on the rock floor of thetunnel as shown, but if preferred the car may be left hanging in theair, and time is saved if we let it hang, leaving the hooks hooked underthe lower edge of both ends of the car. It only requires about fifteenseconds to hook onto and raise and move a car off the track.

After the empty car D, has been transferred from the track to the sideof the tunnel, it is far enough away from the track to allow the motorand the balance of the cars in the train of cars to move past it; andthen the motorman E, runs the motor up to and the brakeman couples themotor M, to the car C, and as by this time, the car A, has been filledwith rock muck, the niiotorman E, backs all of the three cars, that is,the emp ties C, and B, and the now loaded car A, which three cars themotorman now backs down past the air lifting apparatus, far enough toallow the brakeman to jump off of the car and get into position on theopposite front end 0 of the car D. Then the car D is rollingly swungback over the track by the motorman and the brakeman by its trolleyrolling on the cross bar 9, of the tunnel, until the car D, stands overthe track; then the motorman E, closes the air inlet valve, and opensthe exhaust valve 52, enough to allow the car D, to move down slowlyonto the rails of the track; and each one guides his end of the car soits wheels move onto the rails of the track; and they thus set thisempty car D, on the track again ahead of the'now muck filled car A. Thenthe brakeman and the motorman unhook the hooks from the lower edge oftheir respective ends of the car and they are swung over to the sidewall 6, of the tunnel, by pulling on them, which causes their trolley toroll on the cross bar 9, and move the cylinder and the I-beam along withit. V

The motorman E of the motor then moves the train up to the replaced carD, and the brakeman couples the train to this replaced car D, and umpson the motor, and then the motorman E, operates the motor to push thetrain up the track until the empty car D, is under the conveyor of theloader.

Then the instant the empty car D, is stopped under the conveyor of theloader, the conveyor is started up by its operator, who commences tofill it. The brakeman F, then jumps off the motorand uncouples thenowrear car C, and jumps on the car again, and the motorman E, backs itdown the track until it is under the air lifting apparatus; then thebrakeman F, gets off of the ear, and uncouples it and walks around tothe front end 0 of the car; n'ieanwhile the motor backs far enough awayfrom the car C, on the track, so that the motorman E, can get between itand the motor; then the motorman gets otf the motor and both themotorman and brakeman grasp the I-beam and the hooks and pull them andthe trolley and the cylinder over to the center of the car C, and hookthe hooks under the lower edges 10, of the angle bar 38, at its loweropposite ends; then the motorman E, after seeing that the exhaust valveis closed, opens the air inlet valve, and the air raises the car C oilof the track, and they swing it over to the side wall 6 of the tunnel,and either let it down or let it hang there on the hooks, and then bothjump on the motor, which then runs up and coupled to the empty ear B,and then backs down the track with it and with the now loaded car D, andthe now loaded car A, and he backs these three cars D, A, and B, belowthe car C, that is off the track. Then the brakeman and motorman jumpoff the cars D, A, and B, and the motor and go to the opposite ends ofthe car C, that is off of the track hanging on the trolley and grasp theopposite ends of the I-beam and then the car C is swung by the brakemanand motorman over the track, and is lowered onto the tracks ahead of theloaded car D, and then the brakeman and motorman unhook it and pull thehooks and trolley away from over the track, and then the motor pushesthe three cars D, A, and B, up to the replaced car C, and then thebrakeman couples the car C to the loaded car I), and then the brakemanF, preferably jumps onto the empty car C, and the motorman E operatesthe motor to move the empty car C and the two now loaded cars D and Aand the empty car B, up to the conveyor with the empty car C, now aheadof the car D, under the conveyor, and while the ear C, is being loaded,the brakeman F, unrouples the remaining empty car B, and the motormanmoves it down with the motor under the air lifting apparatus AA, and itis removed from the track the same as the other two empties were; andthen the motor goes up and gets new three loaded cars C, D, and A, andpulls them back down below the re moved car B, and it is replaced on thetrack ahead of the now three loaded cars C, D, and A, and is run upunder the conveyor, and loaded. Then all four of the cars, B, C, I) andA, of which the train is composed, are now loaded and the motor M drawsthem out of the tunnel to the dump, where they are unloaded, and thenthey are returned to the breast of the tunnel.

The time required to set a car back on the track is generally a fewseconds longer than that required to remove one from the track, as thebrakeman has to be careful in guiding the cars wheels down onto thetrack, but only from about thirty to forty seconds are required toremove and replace an empty car on the track ahead of a full one. Infact, an empty car can be run up and filled and backed down and anotherempty car set ahead of the loaded one, and run up in position to befilled in about two and one-half to three minutes, thus completing thecycle of transmitting an empty car ahead of a filled car and putting itin position to be filled on a single track, without the use of a switchtrack for switching the loaded cars to one side of the empty cars.

Consequently a train of about ten to twelve empty cars can be veryquickly and easily loaded with rock muck at the breast of a tunnel on asingle track by the use of our air lifting apparatus, and thecooperating system of train movements herein described.

Our invention provides a rapidly working system of loading dirt, rockmuck, coal, ores, and other material. conveying cars, not only in narrowtunnels that form the preliminary drilled small tunnels of largerailroad tunnels as in the present case, but also for tunnels forconveying water through mountains, and for coal mining tunnels driven inand through veins of coal in coal mining operations, and also in thenarrow tunnels generally used in mining gold, silver, copper, lead andzinc and other mineral mining operations. Our car lifting apparatus canalso be used for lifting freight cars off of one track and placing themon another track in freight yards, especially freight cars loaded withperishable fruit that cannot be gotten out of a train in a yardcongested with freight trains. And a great saving is made by using oursingle track system in tunnels, as the expense of the cross ties and therails and the labor of blasting out the long chambers or recesses in thesides of narrow tunnels for the switches and also the work of laying theswitches, and having several men switch loaded cars by hand; and whilewe have illustrated and described the preferred construction of ourinvention, we do not wish to be limited to it, as changes may be made init Without departing from the spirit of our invention.

I-Iaving described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

In tunnel building, a method of handling loads, which consists inrunning an empty train of cars to the breast of the tunnel, loading thefirst car, lifting an empty car from the track, moving the loaded carrearwardly past the car off the track, lifting the detached car backupon the track, moving it to the breast of the tunnel and loading it,lifting another empty car from the track, moving the last loaded carrearwardly past the car off the track, lifting the detached car backupon the track and continuing this alternate loading and shifting ofcars until all cars are loaded.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signa ture in presence of twowitnesses.

ORREN ALLEN. DANIEL J. OROURKE. IVitnesses Lno S. CRONAUER, H. R.MOGRURY.

